2011 Oscar Nominations are out!

[Steve T Power]

Here's some meat to chew on:

Best Picture:
The King's Speech
The Fighter
True Grit
The Social Network
Inception
Toy Story 3
Black Swan
The Kids Are All Right
Winter's Bone
127 Hours

Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Javier Bardem, Biutiful

Best Actress:
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Director:
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit
David O. Russell, The Fighter

Best Adapted Screenplay:
127 Hours, Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3, Michael Arndt
True Grit, Joel and Ethan Coen
Winter's Bone, Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini

Best Original Screenplay:
Another Year, Mike Leigh
The Figher, Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson
Inception, Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are Alright, Lisal Cholo-Denko and Stuart Blumberg
The King's Speech, David Seidler

Best Animated Feature:
Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist

Foreign Language Film:
In A Better World (Denmark)
Biutiful (Mexico)
Incendies (Canada)
Dogtooth (Greece)
Outside the Law (Algeria)

[molly1216]

My bets:

BEST PICTURE The King’s Speech
BEST ACTOR Jeff Bridges, True Grit
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Christian Bale, The Fighter
BEST ACTRESS Natalie Portman, Black Swan
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Melissa Leo, The Fighter
BEST ANIMATED FILM How to Train Your Dragon
BEST ART DIRECTION Inception — Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Inception — Wally Pfister
BEST DIRECTOR toss up Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM Biutiful (Mexico)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY David Seidler, The King’s Speech
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Debra Granik and Anne Roselini, Winter’s Bone
BEST DOCUMENTARY Exit Through the Gift Shop


Inception is missing from a few key categories!

[J.M. Vargas]

Surprised "Blue Valentine" came out of nowhere to have a Best Actress nomination for Michelle Williams. "Winter's Bone" also got some unexpected Academy love considering how long ago the movie came out. Also "The Illusionist" being nominated along with "Toy Story 3" and "...Train Your Dragon" for Best Animated Feature shows there are a lot of Tati fans in the Academy (I was sure "Tangled" or some more popular CG flick would get the nod). Other than that looks like it's "The King's Speech" race to lose.

[cdouglas]

Other than being rather disappointed that Shutter Island, The Ghost Writer and The American are getting no love at all, I'd say it's a decent year of nominations.

[cdouglas]

Surprised "Blue Valentine" came out of nowhere to have a Best Actress nomination for Michelle Williams. "Winter's Bone" also got some unexpected Academy love considering how long ago the movie came out. Also "The Illusionist" being nominated along with "Toy Story 3" and "...Train Your Dragon" for Best Animated Feature shows there are a lot of Tati fans in the Academy (I was sure "Tangled" or some more popular CG flick would get the nod). Other than that looks like it's "The King's Speech" race to lose.

You think so? I dunno, The Social Network has been getting an awful lot of love from the other year-end awards...

[Steve T Power]

The King's Speech is definitely the frontrunner, but I was very pleased to see some love for True Grit. I'd love to see Bridges get the best actor nod because... hey! Jeff Bridges, but i'd get a real charge out of James Franco or Jesse Eisenberg stealing it as well.

[Andrew Forbes]

Inception getting a Best Picture nom and Nolan being snubbed for direction makes about as much sense as the average Barlowe post.

[Steve T Power]

Inception getting a Best Picture nom and Nolan being snubbed for direction makes about as much sense as the average Barlowe post.

The "real" best picture list looks more like this:

The King's Speech
The Social Network
Black Swan
The Kids Are All Right
Winter's Bone

you could also swap out Black Swan for 127 Hours if you're feelin' it.

[cdouglas]

Inception getting a Best Picture nom and Nolan being snubbed for direction makes about as much sense as the average Barlowe post.

The "real" best picture list looks more like this:

The King's Speech
The Social Network
Black Swan
The Kids Are All Right
Winter's Bone

you could also swap out Black Swan for 127 Hours if you're feelin' it.

I'd guess that the real best picture list looks like this...

The King's Speech
The Social Network
Black Swan
True Grit
The Fighter

Just considering that the best picture nominees often mirrored the best director nominees in the past...

[HGervais]

Speaking as someone who doesn't give a crap what Oscar nominates, that is as good & representative a list of nominations as I have seen out of Oscar in many, many years.

[Gabriel Girard]

I'm happy that Incendies made the cut. I haven't seen it yet but Villeneuve is probably the most talented Québecois filmmaker working right now.

[mavrach]

Inception getting a Best Picture nom and Nolan being snubbed for direction makes about as much sense as the average Barlowe post.

I think that's a weakness of having 10 nominees for Best Picture versus 5 nominees in other categories. It's a rarity that a movie wins Best Picture without wining Best Director (and it makes zero sense to me when that does happen), so you can probably rule out the 5 that didn't get the director nomination.

[azul017]

What a joke. The key person to making Inception work film-wise -- editor Lee Smith -- is snubbed completely. I can understand the director snub, but the editor -- I'm pissed. Maybe Nolan will scoop up that Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, if that happens I'll be happy.

But I fear The Social Network and King's Speech will be the clean sweepers in all the key categories. Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for the former; Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor for the latter. Natalie Portman is a virtual lock for her turn in Black Swan, but she deserves it.

[mkiker2089]

I don't get it, why isn't Shutter Island up there for something. Best lead actor? Supporting Actor? Director? It at least deserves a cinematography award. Every year I think the Academy is losing touch more and more, this year isn't a complete exception. Actually I'm surprised Inception made the list.

Are the lists always this long? It seems like they are all at least one nominee too many.

[HGervais]

Because even though it was well mounted & performed Shutter Island really wasn't all that good? I mean it really didn't take long to figure out the movie's angle and the ending came as a zero shock. I'm pre-disposed to love almost anything Scorsese makes but the movie was far too predicable at almost every turn.

[BenSaylor]

Disappointed but not surprised by the lack of nominations for The American, Somewhere and The Ghost Writer. I haven't seen Another Year but from what I've read, Mike Leigh's movies are largely improvised by his cast, so it's interesting that that was nominated for best original screenplay. Also, how does Tron: Legacy walk away with only 1 nomination (for sound editing)? It's not a great movie but I think it deserved a best visual effects nomination, especially when you consider some of the films that were nominated for that category. (I'm looking at you Hereafter.) Daft Punk did a pretty good score as well which was not nominated.

[Steve T Power]

Because even though it was well mounted & performed Shutter Island really wasn't all that good? I mean it really didn't take long to figure out the movie's angle and the ending came as a zero shock. I'm pre-disposed to love almost anything Scorsese makes but the movie was far too predicable at almost every turn.

Plus, It came out in January. Only Video Game critics have memories that go that far back.

Daft Punk did a pretty good score as well which was not nominated.

Best score of 2010.

[Andrew Forbes]

Because even though it was well mounted & performed Shutter Island really wasn't all that good? I mean it really didn't take long to figure out the movie's angle and the ending came as a zero shock. I'm pre-disposed to love almost anything Scorsese makes but the movie was far too predicable at almost every turn.

Yeah, I guess if plot is all you're interested in, rather than a meditation on guilt and the devastating implications of violence. Watching it again after my initial, somewhat disappointing first viewing, I began to appreciate the sadness that pervades the film and the way the behavior of the players turns subtly from strained indulgence to irritation to resigned pity. Even with the Big Twist approach to the narrative, it's an impressive character piece.

[cdouglas]

Because even though it was well mounted & performed Shutter Island really wasn't all that good? I mean it really didn't take long to figure out the movie's angle and the ending came as a zero shock. I'm pre-disposed to love almost anything Scorsese makes but the movie was far too predicable at almost every turn.

Yeah, I guess if plot is all you're interested in, rather than a meditation on guilt and the devastating implications of violence. Watching it again after my initial, somewhat disappointing first viewing, I began to appreciate the sadness that pervades the film and the way the behavior of the players turns subtly from strained indulgence to irritation to resigned pity. Even with the Big Twist approach to the narrative, it's an impressive character piece.

Indeed. I think it's one of the year's most misunderstood films, as many I've talked to seem to be approaching it as a gimmicky, Shyamalan-style thriller. It's very much about the journey rather than the destination (though the film's final scene is nothing short of heartbreaking). I appreciated the way Scorsese undersells the Big Twist, gently leading us into the inevitable rather than offering a overheated reveal which says, "AHA! Didn't see that coming, did you?"

[Bryan Pope]

Because even though it was well mounted & performed Shutter Island really wasn't all that good? I mean it really didn't take long to figure out the movie's angle and the ending came as a zero shock. I'm pre-disposed to love almost anything Scorsese makes but the movie was far too predicable at almost every turn.

Yeah, I guess if plot is all you're interested in, rather than a meditation on guilt and the devastating implications of violence. Watching it again after my initial, somewhat disappointing first viewing, I began to appreciate the sadness that pervades the film and the way the behavior of the players turns subtly from strained indulgence to irritation to resigned pity. Even with the Big Twist approach to the narrative, it's an impressive character piece.

Indeed. I think it's one of the year's most misunderstood films, as many I've talked to seem to be approaching it as a gimmicky, Shyamalan-style thriller. It's very much about the journey rather than the destination (though the film's final scene is nothing short of heartbreaking). I appreciated the way Scorsese undersells the Big Twist, gently leading us into the inevitable rather than offering a overheated reveal which says, "AHA! Didn't see that coming, did you?"

Well said, Clark and Andrew. I'd go so far as to say this movie was as misunderstood in its own way as Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World.

[Observer]

Because even though it was well mounted & performed Shutter Island really wasn't all that good? I mean it really didn't take long to figure out the movie's angle and the ending came as a zero shock. I'm pre-disposed to love almost anything Scorsese makes but the movie was far too predicable at almost every turn.

Yeah, I guess if plot is all you're interested in, rather than a meditation on guilt and the devastating implications of violence. Watching it again after my initial, somewhat disappointing first viewing, I began to appreciate the sadness that pervades the film and the way the behavior of the players turns subtly from strained indulgence to irritation to resigned pity. Even with the Big Twist approach to the narrative, it's an impressive character piece.

Indeed. I think it's one of the year's most misunderstood films, as many I've talked to seem to be approaching it as a gimmicky, Shyamalan-style thriller. It's very much about the journey rather than the destination (though the film's final scene is nothing short of heartbreaking). I appreciated the way Scorsese undersells the Big Twist, gently leading us into the inevitable rather than offering a overheated reveal which says, "AHA! Didn't see that coming, did you?"

Well said, Clark and Andrew. I'd go so far as to say this movie was as misunderstood in its own way as Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World.

I agree. Shutter Island wasn't one of my favorites from last year, but it had nothing to do with how "obvious" the twist at the end was. If anything, I thought Scorsese was counting on the audience figuring out the twist early on, and the whole movie kind of plays out, as cdouglas says, more about the journey than the destination. And because we know more about the journey than Leo does, it somehow makes everything more heartbreaking.

[mkiker2089]

I thought Scorsese was counting on the audience figuring out the twist early on, and the whole movie kind of plays out, as cdouglas says, more about the journey than the destination. And because we know more about the journey than Leo does, it somehow makes everything more heartbreaking.

Thank you. I was trying to think of a way to say that last night but I was too tired to explain it.

Figuring the twists out just a step before the reveal, and having the lead character remain a step behind that even was crucial to the story.

Great movie or not I think it's at least as good as others on the list of "best."

[HGervais]

I don't know...I guess i just felt like Shutter Island & Inception both covered very similiar thematic ground and it was the latter that kept me interested & engaged. As I've noted several times, Shutter Island is a beautifully made film with really good to great performances but I found the film to be cold and painfully obvious. It's a good movie but it would have been a great movie with a better screenplay.

[Dan Mancini]

I don't know...I guess i just felt like Shutter Island & Inception both covered very similiar thematic ground and it was the latter that kept me interested & engaged. As I've noted several times, Shutter Island is a beautifully made film with really good to great performances but I found the film to be cold and painfully obvious. It's a good movie but it would have been a great movie with a better screenplay.

I tend to agree. The clunky plot execution got in the way of my emotional involvement in the story. I couldn't get past it. Honestly, when the movie slipped into the flashback-to-earlier-scenes-whose-meanings-are-reframed-because-now-we-know-the-truth cliche, I couldn't believe I was watching a Scorsese flick (or a picture edited by Thelma Schoonmaker, for that matter).

[Andrew Forbes]

I don't know...I guess i just felt like Shutter Island & Inception both covered very similiar thematic ground and it was the latter that kept me interested & engaged. As I've noted several times, Shutter Island is a beautifully made film with really good to great performances but I found the film to be cold and painfully obvious. It's a good movie but it would have been a great movie with a better screenplay.

I tend to agree. The clunky plot execution got in the way of my emotional involvement in the story. I couldn't get past it. Honestly, when the movie slipped into the flashback-to-earlier-scenes-whose-meanings-are-reframed-because-now-we-know-the-truth cliche, I couldn't believe I was watching a Scorsese flick (or a picture edited by Thelma Schoonmaker, for that matter).

If the movie wasn't so overcooked in Gothic atmosphere and film-noir style, I would probably be with you. I think Scorsese was perfectly aware of how clunky those devices were and was playing with the hoarier elements of the film as a nod to melodramatic favorites of the past--in a way, it's Scorsese's Grindhouse. I think the film is divisive because it relies on one's willingness or ability to steep in the operatic without losing touch with the sincere humanity at its core. It's a movie that is playing in two simultaneous registers: heightened emotion and genuine tragedy. I can respect one's inability to connect with the movie, but I think it is largely misunderstood.

[Gabriel Girard]

I don't know...I guess i just felt like Shutter Island & Inception both covered very similiar thematic ground and it was the latter that kept me interested & engaged. As I've noted several times, Shutter Island is a beautifully made film with really good to great performances but I found the film to be cold and painfully obvious. It's a good movie but it would have been a great movie with a better screenplay.

I tend to agree. The clunky plot execution got in the way of my emotional involvement in the story. I couldn't get past it. Honestly, when the movie slipped into the flashback-to-earlier-scenes-whose-meanings-are-reframed-because-now-we-know-the-truth cliche, I couldn't believe I was watching a Scorsese flick (or a picture edited by Thelma Schoonmaker, for that matter).

If the movie wasn't so overcooked in Gothic atmosphere and film-noir style, I would probably be with you. I think Scorsese was perfectly aware of how clunky those devices were and was playing with the hoarier elements of the film as a nod to melodramatic favorites of the past--in a way, it's Scorsese's Grindhouse. I think the film is divisive because it relies on one's willingness or ability to steep in the operatic without losing touch with the sincere humanity at its core. It's a movie that is playing in two simultaneous registers: heightened emotion and genuine tragedy. I can respect one's inability to connect with the movie, but I think it is largely misunderstood.

Seconded. I'd read the book so I knew all about the twist - that twist really disappointed me from Lehane. I think Scorsese did the best that he could with the material. IMHO due to the peculiar gothic style of the movie ,the ending works better on screen than in the book.

[Kenneth Morgan]

Also, how does Tron: Legacy walk away with only 1 nomination (for sound editing)? It's not a great movie but I think it deserved a best visual effects nomination, especially when you consider some of the films that were nominated for that category. (I'm looking at you Hereafter.)

Well, the Academy snubbed the original "Tron", so they're just maintaining tradition.

I'm surprised that "Despicable Me" didn't get a nomination for Best Animated Film. Still, when you get right down to it, the nominations in that category should've read: "'Toy Story 3' and the others that need a miracle to win".

[Dan Mancini]

If the movie wasn't so overcooked in Gothic atmosphere and film-noir style, I would probably be with you. I think Scorsese was perfectly aware of how clunky those devices were and was playing with the hoarier elements of the film as a nod to melodramatic favorites of the past--in a way, it's Scorsese's Grindhouse.

See, that only makes me like it less. Scorsese is better than Grindhouse (even his own version). Part of his brilliance is that he has an erudite approach to filmmaking that doesn't get bogged down in self-conscious, self-congratulatory, Tarantino-style bullshit (or at least he did). In Goodfellas, for instance, he throws almost every film technique imaginable at the audience, and plays deftly with genre, but all of it is basically invisible because it flows seamlessly from the demands of the story. It's perfectly integrated, and not at all show-offy or crass.

In Shutter Island, Scorsese is either unusually ham-handed or he stupidly chose to play a little wink-nudge with the audience (I tend to think the former). Either way, if a movie is supposed to immerse me in the main character's emotional experience, I don't really want to be beaten over the head with a self-aware playing of genre conventions, or knowing nods to the Hollywood of yesteryear. Shutter Island feels like it's at war with itself. And Scorsese does some stuff so lame and conventional that I came away worried he's run out of anything meaningful to say. We can blame it on Dennis Lahane's pulpy source material, but Scorsese still decided to do the adaptation.

I don't think it's a horrible movie, just stubbornly mediocre -- like everything he's made since Bringing Out the Dead.

[cdouglas]

If the movie wasn't so overcooked in Gothic atmosphere and film-noir style, I would probably be with you. I think Scorsese was perfectly aware of how clunky those devices were and was playing with the hoarier elements of the film as a nod to melodramatic favorites of the past--in a way, it's Scorsese's Grindhouse.

In Shutter Island, Scorsese is either unusually ham-handed or he stupidly chose to play a little wink-nudge with the audience (I tend to think the former). Either way, if a movie is supposed to immerse me in the main character's emotional experience, I don't really want to be beaten over the head with a self-aware playing of genre conventions, or knowing nods to the Hollywood of yesteryear. Shutter Island feels like it's at war with itself.

I could be wrong, but it seemed to me that the references to the film's of yesteryear were part of the character's emotional experience. Essentially, the character has created a movie in his mind (and he is the star, naturally). Contrast how plain and unmysterious things look once the character learns the truth (plus the frank realism of the final-act flashback) with the stylish, atmospheric visuals leading up to that moment.

[Dan Mancini]

If the movie wasn't so overcooked in Gothic atmosphere and film-noir style, I would probably be with you. I think Scorsese was perfectly aware of how clunky those devices were and was playing with the hoarier elements of the film as a nod to melodramatic favorites of the past--in a way, it's Scorsese's Grindhouse.

In Shutter Island, Scorsese is either unusually ham-handed or he stupidly chose to play a little wink-nudge with the audience (I tend to think the former). Either way, if a movie is supposed to immerse me in the main character's emotional experience, I don't really want to be beaten over the head with a self-aware playing of genre conventions, or knowing nods to the Hollywood of yesteryear. Shutter Island feels like it's at war with itself.

I could be wrong, but it seemed to me that the references to the film's of yesteryear were part of the character's emotional experience. Essentially, the character has created a movie in his mind (and he is the star, naturally). Contrast how plain and unmysterious things look once the character learns the truth (plus the frank realism of the final-act flashback) with the stylish, atmospheric visuals leading up to that moment.

I don't think you're wrong about Scorsese's intent, I just don't think he pulls it off. Building a supposedly serious, substantive film on the back of a collection of trite cliches is a tricky balancing act, and Scorsese fell on his ass as far as I'm concerned. The movie never rises above the genre conventions it employs. Instead, it falls victim to them.

The climactic flashback is a case in point. By the time it occurs, Scorsese has made me so aware that he's playing with noir and pulp conventions that the big emotional payoff doesn't materialize because I'm also accutely aware of the (over-used) mechanism via which he makes his big reveal. The reveal itself may be beside the point (sort of, though Scorsese's strident emphasis on genre conventions undermines that argument), but the technique, the flashback itself, is so trite and such an insult to audience intelligence (not only in Shutter Island, but in nearly any of the many films in which it is used, including The Sixth Sense) that there's no earned emotion (not for me, anyway). I understand Shutter Island, but I don't feel it.

[Andrew Forbes]

I don't think it's a horrible movie, just stubbornly mediocre -- like everything he's made since Bringing Out the Dead.

AvatarBlackdahliaNinthgateThericharddonnercuttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!11

[mavrach]

Has anybody else noticed that one of the hosts is up for one of the awards this year? James Franco is nominated for Best Actor. Almost seems like a conflict of interest...